Temperance Elementary

Temperance Elementary is one of the rural-scale elementary campuss in Amherst, Virginia, one of the schools within Amherst County Public Schools, with 93 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 81% below the state mean of about 499.

Across the 9 schools in Amherst County Public Schools (3,900 students total), Temperance Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Temperance Elementary reports that 87% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. The remainder is composed of 5% Black, 4% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. That is considerably more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 74%.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 7 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.3:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 13.8:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 83% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

After controlling for student poverty, Temperance Elementary sits in the top 10% of Virginia schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 65.6%; actual is 82.1%, +16.6 points clear of the demographic baseline.

Across the wider county, Amherst County reports that median household earnings sit near $68,724, about 25% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. Temperance Elementary is one of 10 public schools in Amherst County (combined enrollment of about 3,900 students).

The closest other public school is Amherst Elementary, roughly 7.6 miles away. Within ten miles, there are 5 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. On composite proficiency, Temperance Elementary comes 1st of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 68.9%.

Geographically, the school is in an outlying area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Temperance Elementary's enrollment has contracted 18% since 2018, when it stood at 113 (now 93). Over the same period, the Black share ticked down from 14% to 5%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 15.1:1 in 2018 to 13.3:1 in 2025.

On this page, posts here usually surface around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.